Ivy Starling's New Hope
by ArtistsChild93
Summary: Nineteen year old Ivy Starling Somehow finds herself in the middle of a desert planet with no memory of how she got there. After literally running into Luke Skywalker, she joins him on the adventure of a lifetime. I will be putting on a chapter daily (if we get the internet up and running in my dorm)
1. Meetings and Escape

**Hola, I actually made an older version of this, but I didn't really like it. So I decided to start over and tell the whole New Hope story with Ivy in it. I should get around to writing the other episodes at some point, but I'm just gonna start with this one. Sorry if this chapter's a bit long. The point they jump into hyperspace just seemed like the best time to stop.**

Ivy woke up with a killer headache. "Mom?" the girl groaned, no response, "Moom?!" she said louder. No one answered. She opened one eye a crack and groaned as the light flooded her groggy senses. She was in the middle of a desert. She sat up slowly; rubbing at her already sunburnt neck as the memories came flooding back. Her parents where dead, killed by the Empire. And now she was… Where was she?

Starling stood up slowly and took in her surroundings. Luckily, there was no residual dizziness. That was a good sign. She was in the middle of a desert, but fortunately within walking distance of a small town or city. She rubbed at her tender neck again and started towards the only sign of civilization.

By the time she reached somewhere she could go in, her throat was dry. It was a bar. _Well, _she thought, _at least they'll have something to drink._ She walked over and leaned against a table behind the bar and took in her surroundings. She had never seen such an assortment of strange creatures in all her born days! Drink forgotten, she could do nothing more than stare at the odd mixture. Her musing was interrupted when something or someone crashed into her, knocking her head over heels.

She landed with her backside over her head, which she was now struggling to get out of. Suddenly, she felt a soft hand grab on to her ankle. Ivy kicked out at the person.

"Hey, hey," a male voice came, "I'm trying to help you!"

"I don't need any help." She snapped, furious at how undignified she must look. It took her several moments to get into a sitting position. There was a boy about her own age standing over her.

He offered her a hand, "Hey, are you okay?" she took the hand presented to her and was pulled up, "Sorry I knocked you down like that," he said sheepishly. He was cute! He had sandy blonde hair, was very tan, and had an adorable dimple in his chin. Not to mention the fact that he had gorgeous light blue eyes.

"Yeah, I've had worse," she grinned, liking him almost immediately, "Sorry I snapped at you like that."

Both of them blushed when they realized how long they had been staring at each other, "I'm Luke by the way." He said.

Ivy held out her hand for him to shake, "Ivy, Ivy Starling." He cocked his head on one side, reminding her of a puppy dog.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

Ivy laughed, "You're supposed to shake my hand, that's what we do on my planet when we meet someone."

"Oh." He said, cheeks turning slightly pink, "Why do you do that?"

"I don't know," she replied, "It's tradition I guess."

"Luke?" an old man in brown robes addressed her new friend.

He turned around, "Yeah?" he asked.

His elderly companion took notice of Ivy, "Hello there, young one," he smiled.

"Hi," she said respectfully, "you must be with Luke,"

"I am indeed," he said. Ivy caught sight of the huge furry creature standing behind him.

"What is that?" she asked, in awe.

The elder replied, "Chewbacca here is a wookee, and he's first mate on a ship that might suit us."

"Us?" she asked, baffled.

"Yes, I sense that you must come with us, young one."

"Why thanks, I'm sure, sir," she said, feeling somehow relived that she would get to come with Luke.

He asked her a question, "What are you called?"

"I'm Ivy, Ivy starling," she said, "From Earth, I'm not sure if you've heard of it."

He smiled benevolently, "I'm very pleased to meet you, young Ivy, you may call me Ben." This time, the old man did offer a hand to her, which she shook.

"Is he your son?" Starling asked curiously. She saw almost a flicker of sadness in his eyes.

The old one shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not, his father died shortly before he was born."

She looked at her friend, "I'm so sorry, Luke."

"It's okay," he said, "I'm kinda used to it by now." She noticed he also seemed sad at the mention of his parents.

"Come now," Ben said, leading them over to one of the less lighted tables, "We must find our way quickly."

There was a man there, quite a bit older than the pair of them, but still looked to be in his twenties. He smirked at the new arrivals, a look Ivy wasn't sure she liked. "Han Solo, I'm captain of the millennium Falcon." He said then indicated his furry co-pilot with a jerk of his head, "Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system."

"Yes indeed," Ben replied, "if it's a fast ship."

"Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?" he asked

"Should I have?"

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs," Solo bragged.

_Kessel run?" _Ivy thought _parsecs? What the hell is a parsec?_

The smuggler started to brag again, "I've outrun imperial starships, not the local bulk cruisers, mind ya. I'm talking about the big Correlian ships now."

_Wow!_ Ivy thought to herself, _what a modest guy!_

"She's fast enough for ya, old man," he stated. "What's the cargo?"

"Only passengers," Kenobi replied, "myself, the boy, the girl, two droids, and no questions asked."

Solo grinned, "What is it, some kind of local trouble?"

The old man answered, "Let's just say we'd like to avoid any imperial entanglements."

"Well, that's the real trick isn't it," Solo grinned. Ivy had a feeling that this guy was gonna be a rip-off, "And it's gonna cost you something extra. Ten thousand all in advance."

Judging by Luke's reaction it was a rip-off, "Ten thousand, we could almost buy our own ship for that!"

She wondered how much that ten thousand was worth, and what currency they used.

"But who's gonna fly it, Kid, you?" Solo leaned forward in his chair.

Luke answered in a self-assured manner, "You bet I could, I'm not such a bad pilot myself. We don't have to sit here and listen-"

Kenobi put his hand on the boy's arm, "we can pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan.

Ivy did the math in her head_ seventeen? That's not how you haggle!_ Growing up in New York and visiting Greenwich Village often had taught her that.

The smuggler seemed pleased, however, "Seventeen, huh? Okay, you guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready, docking bay 94."

"94," the old man repeated.

"Looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in your handiwork." Solo said. They all looked back towards the bar and saw the bartender showing a group of stormtroopers where they were.

In a matter of seconds, the trio had disappeared out the back door. Ivy was the first to speak up, "Um, I hate to break it to you, but that's not how you haggle, Ben."

"Ahhh, yes, you think I should have made a lower offer than his." He said, "I suspect you are from a large city, young one."

"One of the largest on my home planet," she replied, "We used to go to a place called Greenwich village all the time. I learned how to haggle from one of the best, my father."

He smiled somewhat sadly, "Ahhh, I see. I spent most of my young days on Corusaunt, a large planet city, and I learned to haggle there."

"Wait?" she said, "Why did you offer him a higher price than what he was asking?"

"It was the best way we could be certain of a transport on his ship." He said.

"Why his ship?" she asked, "You're not telling me you actually believe his bragging?"

"I trust him," the old man said, "He seems decent enough compared to some I've known."

"Where you born under a rock?" she said, not particularly caring that she wasn't showing her elder much respect, "I've seen guys like that before, he's a cheat!"

"Patience, young one," he said, not paying much attention to her insult, "misjudging those around you is never wise." He turned back to Luke, "I'm afraid you'll have to sell your speeder, Luke."

"That's okay," he said, "I'm never coming back to this planet again." Ivy couldn't help but notice that she had a funny feeling that one day they would.

"Hello there," she turned around to find herself being addressed by a gold droid, "I'm afraid we haven't been formally introduced, Ma'am."

"Hi," she said, walking backwards now on her toes to prevent herself from falling, "I'm Ivy."

"I am delighted to meet you, Mistress Ivy," he said, "I am C-3PO human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart R2-D2"

"Pleased to meet you both, I'm sure!" she smiled, attempting to bow, but only managing to trip over her own feet, and land on her backside. _Second time today that must be a record._

She noticed Ben and Luke where holding a conversation in front of her, "If his ship's as fast as his boasting, we ought to do well."

Ivy quickly caught up to them, following them through an entryway. What she saw blew her away (not in a good way). _The thing's a piece of crap!_

"What a piece of junk!" Luke said, voicing her thoughts.

Ivy replied hopefully, "maybe it looks better on the inside."

"She'll make .5 past lightspeed," Solo said, clearly having heard their conversation, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, Kids. I've made a lot of special modifications myself, but we're a little bit rushed so if you'll just get yourself on board, we'll get outta here.

Soon after they got in, Ivy heard shots being fired, "What's going on?" she said aloud.

"I don't know," Luke replied, "they're shooting at us though, I guess they don't want us to leave."

They heard Solo's voice, "Chewie, get us outta here!"

They all hurried to get buckled up, "Oh my," Threepio piped up, "I've forgotten how much I hate space travel." Ivy couldn't recall if she did or not.

Obviously if she had ended up on a desert planet, she must have traveled through space, but she didn't remember it at all. Come to think of it, she didn't even remember what had happened to her friends, had they made it out too?

She felt the ship rock as they took off, it was then that she remembered that she actually enjoyed take offs.

"Alright, you two," the old man said suddenly, "You can unbuckle yourselves if you wish."

Ivy and Luke both clambered out of their seats and eagerly followed the old man into the cockpit.

They heard Solo say something about the star destroyer in front of them cutting them off.

"Why don't you outrun em' I thought you said this thing was fast?" Luke jabbered. Ivy couldn't help but agree with him.

"Watch your mouth Kid or you'll find yourself floating home." He snapped, "We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace."

Starling privately hoped he was right. However much she didn't like it, she had to admit their lives where in this man's hands. She hoped he would win her trust.

"Sides," he said, "I know a few maneuvers, we'll lose em."

They heard shots being fired, "This is where the fun begins."

"How long before you make the jump to lightspeed?" Ben asked.

"It'll take a few moments to get the data from the navi-computer." He said

Luke was clearly getting nervous, "You kidding? They're right there gaining."

Solo growled, "Travelling through hyperspace ain't like dustin crops, boy. Without precise calculations, we could fly right through a star, or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick."

Ivy hated to admit it, but she actually found the smuggler likeable. Not the way she found Luke likeable, but she noticed he was one of those people you couldn't help but like.

Luke stupidly pointed at a flashing light, "What's that flashing?"

Solo slapped his hand. Yet another thing she noticed about Luke: he wasn't exactly very experienced in life. Then again, he'd probably grown up on a farm.

"We're losin the deflector shield," Han said, "go strap yourselves in, I'm gonna make the jump to lightspeed.

They all hurried to take their seats and buckle up. Ivy felt herself being pulled slightly backwards as they entered hyperspace.


	2. That's no Moon That's a Space Station

It was several minutes before Ivy plucked up the courage to speak, "So now what?"

"You must begin your training," Ben replied, "Both of you should be trained as Jedi."

"Jedi?" Ivy asked, noticing that her blonde companion was looking obscenely excited, "What's a Jedi?"

"The guardians of peace in the universe," he said, "Or where before the Empire. The Jedi rely on an energy field known as the force, which surrounds all living things."

"But why do you say I am to become one?" she asked, "I mean, I'd never even heard about the force before you told me about it."

"Tell me, young Ivy," he said, "have you ever known something was going to happen before it happened, your reflexes faster than others around you, or do animals seem to have an affinity for you?"

"Well yes, I have noticed that animals like me," she said, "and I have had feelings about something that was going to happen, and I do have to admit, I do have good reflexes. But all my family was like that."

"That shows what I have felt, young one," he said, "The force is strong with you."

She looked confused, "So you're telling me that those things mean I have potential to be a Jedi, whatever that is?"

"Yes indeed, young one," Kenobi replied, "I must begin both of your training at once, here," he said handing her the cylindrical object attached to his belt, "Until we can gain the materials, you may use my lightsaber for practice."

She examined the object, "It's heavier than I expected," she said, "What do I do with it?"

He pointed to a button on the hilt, "This button here ignites the blade, hold it away from your body," she did as she was told and pressed the button.

The blade came into existence with a snap-hiss that made her jump, "Woa!" she said, waving it back and forth, listening to its hum. She stood up and took a fencing stance, practicing the footwork with the strange weapon.

"I see you have used a similar weapon before," he smiled.

She deactivated it and nodded, "yeah, my parents had me instructed in fencing and self-defense. I was fencing champion three years in a row at my school," she added proudly.

Obi-wan chuckled and shook his head at the girl's youthful pride. He had lost his some time ago.

"I do have to admit, this is much heavier than what I'm used to." She said, "But it's not too bad."

For about an hour, the old man instructed her in the proper techniques of how to use a lightsaber, including blocking bolts from a remote with the lightsaber. Obi-wan quickly realized that despite a slightly plucky attitude, she was very bright and willing to learn, although not entirely trusting of her own feelings yet. One day, she would make a great Jedi.

Next, it was Luke's turn with his father's lightsaber. Ivy had to admit, he was a little clumsy, then again this was the first time he'd used anything like it. He taught Luke the same moves, for the most part. Then, just as he had with her, he brought out the remote. She watched him follow the sphere with the lightsaber until Ben suddenly sat down.

"Are you all right?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

Ivy felt the headache from earlier returning.

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force," he said, "as if millions of voices cried out in terror and where suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

Ivy couldn't help but agree.

"You better get on with your exercises," he said to Luke.

Solo entered just seconds after, "Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I'd outrun em."

Luke ignited his blade and began following the remote as though his life depended on it, managing to block two of the bolts.

"Don't everybody thank me at once," Solo said dryly.

Ivy responded with her usual quippy wit, "Why thank you, Captain Solo, we are most indebted to you."

Han glared at the girl, "Didn't your ma ever teach you to be polite to your elders?"

"Only if they were polite to me," she smiled sweetly.

"Hey," he said, catching the blatant insult.

She leaned forward to ask a question, "So? When are we gonna be at Alderaan?"

"About 0400 hours, Thorney." He smirked at her.

"Thorney?" she asked, "What's that supposed to mean."

He grinned, "It's my new nickname for ya, and your name is Ivy after all."

Starling rolled her eyes, "At least it's better than Poison Ivy."

They both jumped as Chewie let out an irate growl, after Artoo beat him at the game they were playing.

"He made a fair move," Threepio said, "Screaming about it can't help you."

"Let him have it, it's not wise to upset a wookiee," he said.

Threepio answered, "But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid."

"That's because a droid don't pull people's arms outta their sockets when they lose," he replied, "wookees are known to do that."

Chewie put his paws behind his head in a tough-guy manner.

"I see your point sir," Threepio said, "I suggest a new strategy, Artoo, let the wookee win."

Ivy snickered behind her hand. Her attention was returned to her friend as he followed the remote's every move. She was about to open her mouth and tell him he didn't need to worry about watching the remote, when Ben spoke up first.

"Remember a Jedi can feel the force flowing through him." He said.

Luke's eyes never left the floating ball, "you mean it controls your actions?"

"Partially," he replied, "but it also obeys your commands." That made much more sense than what he had told her before.

The remote suddenly shot the boy in the thigh, provoking a startled yelp. He jerked back to catch his balance and staggered backwards.

Solo laughed at him, "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, Kid."

Luke deactivated his saber, "You don't believe in the force do you?"

To tell the truth, Ivy wasn't even sure she believed in it.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, I've seen a lot of strange stuff." He said, "But I never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It's all a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense."

Obi-Wan smiled sadly and shook his head. "I suggest you try it again, Luke. This time let go your conscious self and act on instinct."

He put a helmet on his head, which shielded his eyes, "With the blast shield down I can't even see, how am I supposed to fight."

"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them." He said which also made sense.

The first bolt caught him in the shoulder, causing him to wince. Ivy felt kinda bad for him.

"Stretch out with your feelings," the old man said to him.

He moved just seconds before the first bolt, blocking three.

"Wow!" Ivy said, "That was pretty impressive!"

Obi-wan smiled at the girl. "You see, you can do it."

Solo snorted, "I call it luck."

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck."

"Look," he said, "good against remotes is one thing, good against the living, that's something else."

"Well who's to say he isn't," Ivy retorted.

A beeping interrupted them, "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan."

They got up and moved to the cockpit. Ivy heard Luke and Ben speaking about the technique he was learning. He wasn't half bad either. Ivy was a little better with the footwork and such, but Luke was proving to be better than her with the remote.

The ship began to shake violently when they came out of hyperspace. Luke and Ben entered a few seconds later.

"What's going on?" Luke asked.

"Our position's correct, except no Alderaan." He said.

"What do you mean, where is it?"

"That's what I'm tryin to tell you, kid it ain't there," he said, "it's been totally blown away."

Ivy was shocked; she suddenly began to understand what Ben had said earlier, the millions of voices.

"What?! How?" Luke asked.

Ben answered their questions, "Destroyed by the Empire."

"The entire Starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet," he said, "It'd take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've-" he was interrupted by a beeping sound, "There's another ship comin in."

"Maybe they know what happened," Luke said. Ivy however wasn't so sure.

"It's an Imperial fighter," the old man stated.

Luke's voice went up a little, "It followed us!"

"No," Kenobi said, squashing his theory, "it's a short range fighter."

There aren't any bases around here," he said, "where'd it come from?"

It sure is leaving in a big hurry," he turned his head to solo for a moment, "If they identify us, we're in big trouble." That was another thing she'd noticed about Luke, he moved his head a lot when he talked. And he jabbered like a monkey in a tree.

"Not if I can help it," Solo said, "Chewie, jam its transmissions."

"It'd be as well to let it go," Ben said, "It's too far out of range." Ivy highly doubted that Solo would let it go. Not Mr. Shoot-everything-in-sight Solo.

"Not for long," he said.

Ivy, who was beside Luke muttered in her friend's ear, "I knew he was gonna say that." He nodded.

Kenobi seemed to realize something, "A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own."

"It must've gotten lost, been part of a convoy," Luke said thoughtfully, "or something."

"Well, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anyone about us." Solo said. Ivy rolled his eyes.

"Why do you have to shoot everything?" she asked.

He smirked, "Cuz that's my job, Thorney."

"Look at him," Luke said, "He's heading for that small moon."

"I think I can get him before he gets there," He said, "he's almost in range."

Ivy wondered how he could know it was a he.

She suddenly had this ominous feeling in her gut; the feeling like something bad was gonna happen.

"That's no moon, that's a space station."

**Huzzah! Chapter two is done. Sorry if the chapters in this story are a bit long, but I'm just going with the places where it would be best to stop. I hope you're enjoying my story. Please comment, I enjoy reading your feedback.**


	3. Into the Death Star

Ivy's nervousness increased, "I-it might be friendly." She whispered to Luke.

He gulped visibly, "I dunno, it doesn't seem that way."

"It's too big to be a space station," solo said to the old man.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Luke muttered nervously.

Ivy swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, "I agree."

"Turn the ship around," Kenobi said.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Solo answered, "Full reverse, Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power."

Chewie growled something

"Chewie lock in the auxiliary power," he said. The wookee pulled a lever, but to no avail. The ship began to shake violently.

Luke's voice went up several pitches, "Why are we still moving towards it?"

"We're caught in a tractor beam," Solo stated, "it's pullin us in.

"This is not good!" Starling squeaked, "this is not good at all!"

"there's gotta be something you can do!" Luke said fearfully.

"there's nothin I can do about it, Kid I'm full power." Solo said, "I'm gonna have to shut down." Then to himself he added, "They aren't gonna get me without a fight."

Obi-wan put in his advice, "You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting."

"Any ideas?" Ivy asked.

"You have smuggling compartments, am I correct?" the elder asked.

Solo grunted, "Yeah o' course I have smuggling compartments." He took command immediately, "Alright, all of ya, get down in the smuggling compartments. I'll alter the log and jettison the escape pods."

She felt Luke tap her shoulder, "Hey," he said shyly, "you wanna share a compartment with me?"

"Um Shure, Luke," she answered her friend with a small smile, "I'd love to hide from Imperials with you."

When they got to the compartments, Chewie had to open them up for everyone else because his claws where best suited to getting the lids off.

Luke climbed in first and held out his arms to her, "Here," he said, "I'll help you down."

"Thanks, Luke, but I can get down myself." She said, hopping down beside him. As much as she thought it was romantic to think of this gorgeous guy helping her down into a smuggling compartment… Well, okay the smuggling compartment part wasn't romantic. But still, the gorgeous guy part was. What was she saying? She had only known him for a day. She had to admit he was sweet and all, but she'd only known him for that long.

Han climbed into the one next to theirs with Chewie, while old ben was on the other side.

It was at that moment that Ivy's demented sense of humor set in, "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?" he said.

"Isn't this romantic." She smiled wickedly in the dark.

She could practically hear him blushing, "Uhhh yeah, um , romantic."

Part of her was scolding herself for picking on this poor innocent farm boy. But as she had heard said before, her sporting side was patting her back for it. She could hardly stop herself from laughing, "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"That's okay," Luke was smart enough to have caught on to her little game, "it sorta is." Privately he wished he was a little more experienced with girls, but he'd only known her for a day, and leaning over to kiss her might not be the brightest idea. Especially, he thought, if he didn't want a black eye.

_Smart boy,_ she thought to herself, and decided to tease him again, "You know," she whispered, lightly punching his shoulder, "for a blonde you've got some brains in your head."

"Of course I do," he hissed through his teeth, "I skipped two years, and graduated top of my class at sixteen."

"Then why aren't you at some Imperial university or something?" she asked.

He sighed, "My aunt and uncle needed me on the farm, that's why." She seemed to almost catch a wisp of sorrow from him.

"What happened to them?" she asked.

Luke felt a lump forming in his throat, _No, no. I can't cry now, not in front of a girl I've known for 24 hours,_ his voice came out hoarser than he would've liked, "Th-they died. I came home and they-they had killed them and burned the farm down."

He was startled when Ivy's petite hand reached out and grabbed his much larger one, "I know how you feel, they killed my family too."

Suddenly Solo banged on the wall, "Quiet you two, ya want them to hear?"

They heard footsteps and Ivy inadvertently pressed herself against Luke. His heart shot up into his Adam's apple and began to race, but not because there were two stormtroopers standing just feet above him. There was a girl pressed against his body, like she belonged there. No girl had ever done that. As a matter of fact, no pretty girl would've given him the time of day on Tatooine. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to try and alleviate some of the fear he knew she was feeling.

She gasped as she felt his warm arm against her, and realized her body was pressed against his. And yet somehow, it didn't feel foreign, even though at school most boys were terrified to just say hello to her. Somehow, with him there, she didn't feel so scared.

They heard the footsteps receding, and Ivy felt Luke retract his arm, but not before reassuringly squeezing her shoulder. His grip was much harder than she was expecting. He pushed the lid up and pulled himself out, "Boy it's lucky you had these compartments." He said to solo, then offered her a hand, which she took gratefully.

"thanks," she whispered. Skywalker gulped visibly.

"I use them for smuggling," Han replied to his comment, "I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them. This is ridiculous, even if I could take off I'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to me," Obi-wan said calmly

Solo countered, "Damn fool I knew you were gonna say that."

"Who's the more foolish?" said Kenobi, "The fool or the fool who follows him."

Ivy was about to open her mouth to say 'good question,' but then she realized it was of the rhetorical variety. The wookee growled miserably beside Solo, and the other patted his head.

"So," Ivy said, trying and failing to sound cool, "What now."

Just at that moment two imperials walked in carrying a box of some sort. The looked about as surprised as the mismatched group, although they didn't get much time to register it. As the box fell, it made a loud clattering, but Solo was quickly on top of the situation. "Hey down there, can you give us a hand with this?" The stormtroopers, who entered where stunned, and Han and Luke put on their uniforms.

Just as Luke was about to put on his helmet, he heard a faint voice coming through it, "TK421 why aren't you at your post,"

"Go out there and pretend like your transmitter's not working, Kid."

Luke put on the helmet and walked outside, while the other four snuck along to the command center.

The two black suited workers who opened the door quickly found out they were in for a nasty surprise.

Luke, who entered last immediately started complaining the moment his helmet was off, "You know, between his howling and your blasting everything, It's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here."

"Bring em on," the smuggler snapped, "I prefer a straight fight to all this sneakin around."

Threepio interrupted their quarrel, "We found the computer outlet, Sir."

"Plug in," Kenobi directed, "we should be able to interpret the entire imperial network."

Luke ran his fingers through his untidy hair, now made more messy by the helmet he had been wearing.

Artoo beeped cheerfully, as he relayed information to the golden translator.

"He says he's found the main controls to the power beam that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor."

Some readouts that Starling couldn't interpret at all appeared on the screen, until a part of it started flashing. Luke cocked his head on one side curiously.

"I don't think you four can help," he said addressing them, "I must go alone,"

"Whatever you say," Han uttered, "I've had more than I've bargained for on this trip already."

"I wanna go with you," Luke said.

Ivy agreed quietly, "yeah."

"Patience, you two," he said to them both, " stay and watch over the droids."

Both of them tried to register their complaints at the same time, but the old Jedi master held up his hands.

"They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan." He put a hand on each of their shoulders, "your destinies lie along a different path than mine. The force will be with you, always." Ivy had a funny feeling that this would be the last time they'd see him, but she quickly pushed it down.

Luke pushed the panel to shut the door, a frown on his face. Even that looked good, Ivy thought to herself.

Chewie verbalized something in his language.

"Boy you said it, Chewie," Han said, "Where did you dig up that old fossil."

"the same place you hide all your old girlfriends," Starling bit back.

Solo glared at her.

It was Luke's turn, "Ben is a great man."

"Yeah," Solo's voice dripped with sarcasm, "great at getting us into trouble."

"I didn't hear you give any ideas," he said angrily.

"Anything's better than just hangin around here waitin for them to pick us up."

"Who do you think th—"

Luke was interrupted by several excited squeals from Artoo.

"What is it," he inquired.

Threepio responded, "I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, Sir. He says 'I've found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here'"

"Well who?" Luke questioned further. "Who has he found?"

"Princess Leia."

Excitement entered the young farm boy's voice, "The princess! She's here?!"

Han and Ivy looked at each other and shrugged, "Princess?"

"Where-where is she?" he asked.

Solo looked baffled, "Princess? What's goin on?"

_Well, this sounds like an adventure!_ Starling thought excitedly.

Artoo beeped out several more things.

Threepio translated, "Level five detention block AA23. I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."

Luke's eyes grew wide, "Oh no! We've gotta do something!"

Han looked at him like he was growing a third ear out of his forehead, "What are you talkin about?"

"The droids belong to her," he said, "she's the one in the message. We gotta help her!"

"I second that," Starling said bravely. She knew it was probably the stupidest thing she would ever do, but hey, someone's life was in danger.

Solo tried to stamp that idea out of their heads immediately, "Now look, you two don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here."

"But he didn't know she was here," her friend piped up, then he told Threepio, "just find a way into that detention block."

"I'm not going anywhere." Solo said.

"Fine then," Ivy quipped, "we can do it ourselves. Isn't that right Luke?"

Her friend looked at her like she was crazy. "Oh come on, Han, they're gonna execute her." He whined, "Look a few minutes ago you said you didn't wanna wait here and be captured, now all you wanna do is stay?"

"Like I said, Luke," Ivy said, "We don't need him, he's a lousy stick in the mud."

"Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind." He said.

Ivy tried a new tactic, "Hey, who knows, maybe she'll be hot. She might even be your next girlfriend."

"Can it Thorny," he re-joined.

"They're gonna kill her!" Luke argued.

"Better her than me."

_Well that was selfish, _she said to herself, _and I was just starting to like you too, Solo._

Luke suddenly got an idea and leaned down close by the smugglers ear, "She's rich."

"Rich?" the word seemed to interest Han Solo very much.

"mm-hmm" he said, "Rich, powerful. Listen if you were to rescue her the reward would be-" he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"What?"

"Well more well than you can imagine." Luke retorted.

"I dunno," he said, "I can imagine quite a bit."

"You'll get it."

"I better."

"You will!" he exclaimed.

Solo finally agreed, "Alright kid, but you better be right. What's your plan?"

Luke looked over to Ivy, trying to think up something. "Threepio, hand me those binders, will ya?" he said pointing to a pair of gold handcuffs, "kay," he said, when he had them, and walked over to the wookee, "I'm gonna put these on you."

The wookee immediately roared an angry objection and Skywalke backed away, "oh-kay," he said to Han, heart palpitating, " Han, y-you put them on."

"Don't worry, Chewie, I think I know what he has in mind," Solo said, putting the cuffs on the furry creature.

"Oh," Threepio had just realized something, "Master Luke Sir, pardon me for asking, but what should Artoo and I do if we're discovered here?"

"Lock the door."

"And hope they don't have blasters."

"That isn't very reassuring," Threepio said.

Ivy walked over and patted his metal shoulder, "Wasn't supposed to be."


	4. To Rescue a Princess

The moment the door closed on them, Starling realized there was a flaw in the plan, "Wait a minute, I don't have any binders." She said, "Won't that look a little suspicious."

"Yeah," Solo said, "I think you're right, Thorney. Hey kid," he said addressing the younger man, "grab her by the arms, and make it look like you just caught her or somethin."

He caught her arms gently, "Like this?" he said.

"Kid, a stormtrooper wouldn't care if she was uncomfortable." He said, rolling his eyes under the mask.

Ivy reassured him, "Don't worry, I can act like I'm a prisoner. Hey Luke, you're pretty strong right?"

"Yeah why," he asked.

"Cuz I'm gonna have to struggle like I where an actual prisoner," she said, "and you're gonna have to try to keep me from getting away. Can you do that?"

"Sure thing." While they were in the empty hallways, they both worked on getting into form. Ivy would struggle (but not too hard for Luke) and he tried rather successfully to hold her back. And so they dragged her along several corridors.

Around one, a small black droid came, which Chewie roared at. It fled in terror. Eventually, they came to a more populated area, and Ivy had to fight a lot harder. Eventually she tried out and decided to behave as she felt and stopped struggling.

"Luke," she said.

Yeah?" he muttered through the helmet.

"Grip my arm a little tighter." She felt it tighten a little as she stumped along, "Good."

They managed, luckily enough, to keep several officers from entering the elevator when they got it and where able to hold a short conversation.

"I'm not hurting your arm am I." Luke asked, obviously concerned for her welfare.

She shook her head, "No Luke," she said touched by his concern.

"This is not gonna work," Han groaned.

"It is so." Ivy said.

"Why didn't you say so before," Luke said in an exasperated voice

"I did say so before." At that moment the elevator doors hissed open and they turned around to enter.

The officer at the desk turned around and examined them, "Where are you taking these…two?"

Luke answered through the helmet, "Prisoner transport from cell block 1138."

The man eyed them suspiciously, "I wasn't notified, I'll have to clear it."

He motioned to a pair of men wearing black helmets. Suddenly Chewie sprang to life, swiping one of the guards unconscious."

"Look out he's loose!" Han shouted as the wookee pretended to snatch the gun out of Han's hand, while Luke hollered something unintelligible. The four of them made short work of the Imperials, then fired at everything immobile. Once all was quiet, Solo went to talk with the commanding officers on the other line, but first he told Luke that the princess was in cell 2187. "Uhhh, everything's under control, situation normal."

"What happened?"

"Uhhh had a slight weapons malfunction," he said

_Slight! Well that's putting things mildly._

"But Uhhh, everything's fine here. We're perfectly all right now," Solo stated, "We're all fine here now thank you. How are you?"

"We're sending a squad in," the other voice said.

_Oh crap!_ Ivy thought.

Han answered nervously, "Uhhh negative negative. We have a-a reactor leak Uhhh now, give us a few minutes to lock it down. Uhhh large leak very dangerous."

The man's voice became rather irate, "Who is this, what's your operating number?"

Solo shot the communicator, but before he did, Ivy yelled, "BEN DOVER!"

"Real mature, Thorney," the smuggler grinned, "Sure you aren't part solo?"

"Not as far as I know," she said, "By the way, HEY LUKE WE'RE GONNA HAVE COMMPANY!"

The boy sprinted in the opposite direction.

"Okay, Thorney," he said, "this is gonna be a tough one.

She grinned, "I've been through worse scrapes,"

At that moment, a hole was blown in the wall and stormtroopers began to immerge from it. Ivy, Solo, and Chewie where forced to retreat not soon after, running into Luke and the princess. "Can't get out that way."

"No kidding, Solo," Ivy retorted.

The Princess immediately put her own opinion into the mix, "Looks like you managed to cut off our only escape route." She was short, even shorter than Ivy was, had brown eyes, and brown hair, and seemed to possess more than just a short temper.

Solo growled sarcastically, "Maybe you'd like it back in your cell, your highness."

Luke was talking through a small communication device, "What was that I didn't copy?" he turned to them, "There isn't any other way out!" he shouted.

"Oh great," Ivy said irritably.

"I can't hold em off forever!" Han shouted, "Now what?"

Ivy rolled her eyes, "I dunno maybe if we stand here and pretend to be targets we'll think of something."

"This is some rescue," Leia snapped, "When you came in here didn't you have a plan for getting out."

"Nope," Ivy said to her, "it was kinda last minute."

"He's the brains sweetheart." Solo said.

"Well I didn't—" Leia snatched the gun and fired at the troopers. Then she blew a hole into the wall nearly missing Han. Ivy couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

Ivy was giggling hysterically in the space behind Luke.

"What?" he asked, thinking that this was a rather odd time to be laughing.

"Oh I'm such a matchmaker," she giggled, "No, I really am."

Luke stared at her like she was crazy.

They caught the tail end of the princess's conversation with Han, "Into the garbage chute flyboy!" She disappeared into the hole.

Chewie was next, but much more reluctant. _I wonder why. _Ivy thought sarcastically.

"Get in there," Solo yelled at his furry companion, "get in there I don't care what you smell." He kicked him in the butt and the wookee plunged into the garbage pit.

Ivy was next. As a former wealthy person wearing a pair of designer jeans, she normally would've complained more, but she figured her life was worth more than a pair of Calvin Kleins. She plummeted into the hole and landed with a crunch into, you guessed it, garbage. "Aww yuck!" she said, thoroughly slimed and dripping, "Those where my favorite jeans too."

"Well," Leia said, "It's your jeans or your life."

They were interrupted when Luke nearly fell on top of Ivy, "Sorry," he said, "ugh," he rumpled his nose, "it stinks in here!"

"No duh, it's a garbage pit," Ivy snapped, still annoyed about her favorite jeans.

He aimed his gun at the door, "I'm gonna get us outta here." Something screamed in Ivy to duck. She dived facedown into the muck as the blaster bolt ricochet off the wall. She looked up to find the others in similar positions.

Seconds Later, Han landed in the muck close by with a grunt. "Garbage cute what a really wonderful idea." He wrinkled his nose as Luke had done, "What an incredible smell you've discovered." Solo moved some of the refuse out of his way, "let's get outta here, Chewie get outta the way."

"No wait!" Luke yelled, trying to warn Solo about the ricocheting blaster bolt effect from earlier. They all dived as the red beam bounced around the room.

"Oh my gosh," Ivy groaned, "That's the second time I've gotten a face full of garbage today."

"Will you forget it I already tried it it's magnetically sealed!" Luke yelled angrily, his voice becoming harsher.

The princess also entered the mix, "Put that thing away you're gonna get us all killed!" _my they do talk similarly when they're angry._ _Are they twins or something?!_

Solo retorted sarcastically, "Absolutely, Your Worship. Look I had everything under control till you led us down here!"

"Oh sure, Han," Ivy drawled, "you looked like you had everything under control."

He glared at her again, "You know it's not gonna take them long to figure out we're here."

"Could be worse." Leia snapped. Ivy highly doubted that.

They all heard some form of roaring. "It's worse."


	5. There's Something Alive in Here

"There's something alive in here." Luke swallowed. Ivy began to nervously pull herself out of the stagnant water.

Solo tried to reassure the boy, "That's your imagination." It didn't work.

"Something just moved past my leg!" Suddenly Luke and Ivy both saw something slimy moving in the water. Ivy jumped up on a pile of garbage with a terrified shriek. "Look did you see that?"

Chewie roared and banged uselessly at the sealed door.

Ivy had that feeling again, "Luke, get out of the water."

"Huh? Why—"At that moment a tentacle wrapped itself around his leg and dragged him under the mucky water.

"Kid!" The others all began screaming his name and digging furiously through the refuse.

Suddenly just feet from Solo Luke popped up gasping for breath, with a huge tentacle wrapped around his neck.

The princess held a piece of piping out for him to grab, "Luke! Luke grab hold of this!"

"Blast it will ya my gun's jammed!" he screamed.

_You know this would be funny if we weren't the ones all stuck down here._

"Where?" several voices asked at once

"ANYWHERE!"

Solo pulled Luke to his feet, but only moments later it dragged him under again.

Solo and Starling yelled his name for several moments, but there was nothing but silence. A creaking noise broke it, and seconds later Skywalker popped up coughing and sputtering. Ivy couldn't help but feel relived

"HELP HIM!" the Leia screeched as Han grabbed him by the back of his uniform, "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" he said, obviously baffled but grateful to be alive, "It just let go of me and disappeared."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Han said.

"No jip, Solo we jumped into a garbage pit!" she snarled.

Ivy pushed just the wrong button, "Well maybe if you two didn't decide to go gallivanting after some princess we wouldn't be in this mess."

"You went along with it." She snapped.

Leia proceeded to yell at them both "Stop it both of you! Arguing isn't going to get you anywhere. Save the sibling squabble for later!"

"We aren't siblings." She said.

Their bickering was stopped by an ominous rumble as the walls began to move.

"The walls are moving."

"Oh great, a garbage compactor, I should've known!"

"Don't just stand there try and brace it with something!"

"Oh my gosh we're gonna dieee!"

"Help me." Solo went over to help lift a pipe that was obviously too heavy for her. Ivy was next to Luke pushing uselessly on the wall.

"Wait a minute!" Luke remembered the comlink attached to his belt. "Threepio! Come in Threepio!"

"I'm too young to die!" Ivy moaned.

"Threepio! Come in Threepio! Threepio!" Luke continued to scream into the device.

"One thing's for sure we're all gonna be a lot thinner."

"WE'RE GONNA DIEEEE!"

"Get on top of it!"

"I'm trying!"

At this moment the droid finally decided to answer.

"Threepio?" relief flooded the farm boy's voice.

"We've had some problems." He stated, _You've had some problems Threepio? YOU'VE had some PROBLEMS?_

"Will you shuddup and listen to me!" he snapped, "Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level will ya! Do you copy? Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level! Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!"

In a few seconds, they would all be impaled by garbage, and then crushed to death. Ivy couldn't possibly think of a more humiliating way to die. _This is going down in the Darwin awards._ Then suddenly the walls stopped.

All five of them began to shriek excitedly in relief. They were going to live!

"Open the pressure matinence valve to— where are we?" Han shouted the number to him, "326827!"

"We're gonna live!" Ivy shrieked, hugging her friend, ignoring the fact that he smelled like trash water. They all left the compacter, glad to be alive.

Once outside, Luke and Han removed their trooper suits. "If we can avoid any female advice, we ought to get outta here."

"Hey!" Ivy said, "I think one of us females just saved your sorry backside! Isn't that right, Princess?"

"Call me Leia." She smiled.

"Ivy," she said holding out her hand, "Ivy Starling."

An alarm startled them, and Chewie ran away from it howling.

"What is it?" solo asked, aiming the pistol at the alarm.

"No wait they'll hear!" Leia shouted at him.

Solo ignored her and shot the panel. Ivy and Luke made eye contact, she rolled her eyes. "Why do you always have to shoot everything in sight?"

"I already told ya Thorney, that's my job."

"Listen," Organa growled, "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. Okay?"

Luke and Ivy giggled behind their hands. _Oh yeah, Solo, you just got it handed to you by a teenage girl._

"Look your Worshipfulness," he barked, "I take orders from just one person! Me!"

Ivy bit down on her lip and tried to swallow the laugh that was fighting its way out. This made Luke burst out laughing.

Leia strode past Han, "It's a wonder you're still alive. Will somebody get this big walking carpet outta my way?"

He turned to Luke and Ivy, "No reward is worth this." Both of them where red faced with the effort of trying not to laugh, "Hey, what's so funny?"

They both had to lean on each other in order to keep balance, while they walked because they were laughing so hard. Solo shook his head in front of them, "Kids."


	6. Escape From the Death Star

"So Luke," Ivy asked, "Before all this, what did you do?"

He smiled sadly and ran his fingers through his messy hair, "I worked on my uncle's farm fixing vaporators."

"Really?" she said, "wow, I was totally right!"

"About what?" the boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're a farm boy," Ivy grinned, "I totally had you pinned for a farm boy."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yup, my family had a vacation house in Rochester," she said, "and it's got a lot of farmland around it. I was friends with a lot of farm kids."

Luke looked rather surprised, "You're rich?"

"I was rich." She said, "Now I'm about as broke as you probably are."

"Oh," he said examining his boots, "I forgot they killed your family too, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, "I know I'm here for a purpose."

They stopped in front of a window several floors above the Falcon, "there she is." Solo said pointing at the ship.

"See-Threepio do you copy?" Skywalker spoke into the com.

"Yes sir," came the reply.

"Are you safe?"

"For the moment," the prissy droid's voice came through the small communication device, "we're in the main hanger across from the ship."

"We're right above ya stand by." He said.

"You came in that thing," Princess Leia commented, "you're braver than I thought."

"Nice," Han said, obviously annoyed, "come on."

"I think that was a compliment, Solo," Ivy said.

The five of them scurried through several hallways, running smack dab into a company of stormtroopers.

"It's them, blast em!" Solo fired before the troopers could.

"GET BACK TO THE SHIP!" he yelled, charging after the white armored soldiers.

"Where are you going?!" the princess shouted.

Ivy rolled her eyes, "There he goes again, shooting everything in sight."

"Well he certainly has courage," compliment number 2 from Princess Leia. Somehow Ivy got the funny feeling that she liked Solo a lot more than she cared to admit.

"What good will it do him if he gets himself killed." Luke chattered, "C'mon." He grabbed Leia's hand, and Ivy in turn grabbed Leia's other. _Geez her hands are freezing!_

It wasn't long until the trio ran into another party of troopers, which they fired upon. Unfortunately, they ran into a dead end.

"Whoops!" Luke said, nearly over balancing, "I think we took a wrong turn."

A rain of blaster fire came from behind them, but they shut the door, "Now what do we do?"

"There's no lock!" The princess yelped. Luke pulled her aside and blasted the panel.

"That outta hold em for a while."

"Quick, we've got to get across." Leia said, "Find the controls that extend the bridge."

"I think I just blasted it."

_Oops_ Ivy thought.

"They're coming through!"

Gun fire came from the other side, causing the three of them to huddle in a corner while returning fire. Luke, it turned out, was a dead eye. Luckily, so was Ivy. Starling, after all, had gone bow hunting with her father quite regularly.

"Here hold this," Luke said, handing Leia his blaster, at which point she shot down one of the troopers. Meanwhile, Luke was busy trying to pull a small grappling hook out of his belt.

The door started to slowly open, "Hey guys," Ivy said, "you might wanna hurry up, the door's opening."

Luke threw the hook, which caught on a pipe nearby. He took hold of Leia around the waist, and Ivy grabbed onto the rope behind his hands, figuring he wouldn't be strong enough to lift them both. Leia pecked him on the cheek.

"For luck." She said. Ivy suddenly felt irrationally jealous.

They swung across, she felt her stomach plunge to her toes, but it was over in a heartbeat. Luke pulled the line off of his belt and they ran for it.

"That was an adventure," Ivy said, "let's never do that again."

Several minutes later, they ran into Solo and Chewbacca just across from the ship.

"What kept you?" he asked.

"We ran into some old friends." Leia said.

"The ship all right?" Luke panted. Starling was leaning against the wall clutching the stitch in her side.

"Okay if we can get to it," Han said, "I just hope that old man got the tractor beam outta commission."

"I hope he can make it to us on time." Ivy wheezed. The others stared at her, "what? I have asthma okay."

"What's asthma?" Luke cocked his head on the side.

"You've never heard of asthma?" she said, "it's a problem with your lungs which sometimes gives you trouble breathing. Usually it's genetic."

"Oh," he said, "I see. Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, "I just get short on breath occasionally, but it usually doesn't give me a problem."

The stormtroopers suddenly left their posts, which left the small party with a clear way to the falcon.

"Now's our chance, go!" solo whispered, urging the others forward.

They sprinted out, but suddenly Luke stopped halfway between the ship and the door, "Ben?" he said.

"Luke what are you doing?" Ivy asked, "Let's go!" she tugged on her friend's arm, but he refused to budge, eyes fixed on the lightsaber duel between a black monster and the old man. She knew it was no good staying here, but she Shure wasn't gonna leave Luke behind.

Ben saw the pair, smiled, lifted his weapon, and allowed the black beast to cut him down. Ivy heard Luke scream, "NO!" The scream caught the stormtroopers' attention, and for a brief moment Luke stood still. Then he fired.

Ivy and the others screamed at him to get on the ship, he would not budge. The man in the black suit was coming towards them.

"Blast the door kid!" Solo yelled. The door slammed shut, preventing him from getting through.

Ivy ran out and grabbed his arm again. "Move Luke you're gonna get yourself killed!"

He did not. She pulled harder, trying to drag him backwards, he was surprisingly strong. At last he complied and allowed her to pull him inside.

"What were you thinking?!" she shouted, "You coulda got yourself killed!"

He yanked his arm out of her grip and stormed out of the room. It was at that moment Starling realized what she had done.

"Luke, I'm sorry." She said, "I didn't mean to say that. I got scared we were gonna lose you. Please come back."

He sat down at the card table and put his head in his arms. Ivy laid a soft hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said, sitting down beside him, "I'm sorry I said what I did, please forgive me."

He lifted his head and looked at her, "That's-that's okay. I'm sorry I scared you."

"No," she said, "it wasn't your fault, you were upset. I can tell you still are."

At that moment Leia came in and draped his poncho over his shoulders and sat down on the other side of him.

He shook his head, "I can't believe he's gone."

To tell the truth, Ivy couldn't either. She had liked the kindly old man, and had even been looking forward to being trained by him. Starling sighed softly and rubbed his back, "Sometimes the ones we care about leave when we need them, or when we don't want them to."

"There wasn't anything you could've done," the princess said comfortingly.

Solo emerged from the other room, "C'mon buddy we're not outta this yet." He climbed up a ladder and disappeared. Luke followed him.

For a moment Ivy wondered why on earth he had had Luke to come with him. Then she realized Solo was distracting him from what had happened on board the Death Star just moments ago.

_So he really does care about him,_ Ivy was beginning to think the rough attitude was just an act. She followed Leia into the cockpit. "What exactly is going on?" she wondered aloud.

"TIE fighters," she said. Starling heard a peculiar roaring noise and three strangely shaped ships, which had circular cockpits attached to two flat sail-like panels. "Here they come," she said to the others via a communication device.

The ship rocked as the first shots hit home, and Ivy screamed.

"We just lost lateral controls." She heard Leia say. And a muffled response from solo.

The first ship exploded into space dust, followed by an excited war whoop from Solo, which was followed by another shot down by Luke.

"There's still two more of them out there." The princess shouted. The others didn't last very long.

Ivy let out a low whistle, "that was easy."

"We did it!" Leia smiled and hugged both her and the wookiee.

Han entered with a smirk on his face, "Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh. Ya know sometimes I even amaze myself."

"Oooh shocker!" Ivy retorted, "You use that pick up line on every girl you meet, or is it just reserved for royalty?"

Solo glared at her once again.

"They let us go," the princess rebuffed, "it's the only explanation for the ease of our escape."

She privately agreed that that had been way too easy.


	7. Breifing

"Easy?" Solo said, "you call that easy?"

"They're tracking us." The princess said to him

"Not this ship, Sister."

Ivy yawned and stretched, "Well, I'll leave you two to your bickering. Rescuing damsels in distress is tiring work." On her way out, she bumped into Luke, "Have fun in there, those two are arguing like an old married couple."

He snickered, "Again? You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say those two have a thing for each other."

"Oh?" Ivy said with a grin, "What are you gonna do about it?"

Luke got the most innocent look on his face and put his hands up, "I wasn't gonna do anything too devious."

"How devious is too devious?" she asked.

Luke merely shrugged his shoulders before entering the cockpit. Seconds later Leia emerged in a huff, "You know, your brother can be a real idiot sometimes."

"Who Han?" she asked, "he's not my brother, but you're right, he is an idiot."

The princess looked confused, "He's not? You two look so much alike."

"What? Because I have dark hair and a bit of an attitude?" she said slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, Ivy," she said, "I didn't mean to offend you."

Ivy smiled at her new friend, "No hard feelings, it's not the first time I've been confused for someone's sibling. I'm actually travelling with Luke to tell the truth."

"Oh? You know him for a while?" she asked.

Starling laughed and shook her curly head, "Hardly, I've known him for about two days. But I do have to admit, he grows on you. Even if he is a bit annoying at times."

"Really?" Leia said, "You two seem so close. I almost woulda guessed that two of you had grown up together."

"I wish," she said, "He seems like he woulda been fun to grow up with."

Leia smiled with a faraway look in her brown eyes, "I almost feel as though I should have." She noticed the look on her companion's face, "I don't mean anything like that. It's really difficult to explain, he feels almost like my brother or something." She looked at Ivy, "What do you think of him."

She felt her cheeks grow warm, "I-I don't know, I've only known him for a short while, but I would love to get to know him better. And I do want to be friends with him at least. I'm not sure if it'll go beyond that. By the way, did Solo say how long it would be to the rebel base?"

"About 25 minutes." She said, "Are you thinking of joining?"

Ivy smiled, "Yes-yes I am. Actually, I'm not considering it, I'm _going_ to join.

"That's excellent!" the princess exclaimed, "we can always use more recruits."

Suddenly Luke stuck his head around the door frame, "Are you talking about the Alliance?"

"Yes," Leia said, "Are you interested in joining?"

"Of course I am!" he grinned. Ivy wanted to melt.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a large group of people dressed in rebel fatigues.

An old bearded man strode out and greeted Leia, "I am glad to see you safe again, Princess." He beamed, noticing the motley crew behind her, "New recruits?"

"Two of them are," Ivy and Luke looked at each other, "General Dodonna this young man is Luke Skywalker, and the young lady beside him is Ivy Starling. The Wookee is called Chewbacca, and his companion is Han Solo."

He shook each of their hands. Eventually he came to her and Luke, "Are either of you good pilots?"

"I sure am!" Luke said proudly.

Ivy shrugged, "I don't know, I have a little bit of amnesia from the trip from my home planet. But if anyone would know, my best friend would. You wouldn't have to have enlisted a girl about my age named Kourt Kovacks?"

"Why yes," he said, "About a week ago."

"Did-did she come with anyone else?" Starling asked, visibly excited.

"Yes, there were three others." The old man said, "A tall thin girl about 18 with long blush green hair, a shorter girl with short red hair, and a small curly haired girl about nine."

"That's them!" she exclaimed.

"That's who?" Luke asked baffled.

She grinned, "My friends! They're alive! The tall turquoise haired girl's name is Maggie, The redhead is my cousin Danyella, and the little curly haired girl is my younger cousin Adnat."

They followed the group of rebels inside, "You were hoping to find them here?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "the other alternative doesn't bear thinking on.

Luke laid a hand on his shoulder, unable to think of anything to say as they climbed onto a waiting tram.

Once stopped, both Ivy and Luke went in search of someone to show them to the simulation chambers to take their pilot tests.

Ivy felt someone tap her sholder; she turned around to find herself looking at a girl with messy dark hair piled on top of her head, misgevious but good-natured brown eyes, and her left arm in a sling. "Kourt, you just about scared me half to death! What on Earth did you do to your arm?"

The other girl, slightly taller than Ivy, laughed, "Broke it fooling around with Maggie and your little cousin. Who's your friend?"

Ivy pushed Luke forward a little, "Kourt, this is Luke. I met him a few days ago; we're both looking for the Sims to take our piloting test."

"I'll lead you to em'" she grinned, "you know Ivy, after the stunt you pulled the day we left I will not be surprised at all if you get in."

"I don't remember anything that happened." Her best friend said, "all I remember is waking up on some desert planet."

Kourt grinned, "I'm sure it'll come back in time."

Both proved to be excellent recruits. Luke only got killed twice, and Ivy three times.

"That was a good bit of shooting in there, Ivy," her best friend said, "you'll probably take my place up there, since I broke my arm, but I think they're about to start briefing, we'd better hurry if we wanna see what's going down." The three of them entered slightly late.

"The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the Starfleet," the old man from earlier, Dodonna said. "Its defenses are designed around a direct large scale assault. A small one man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense."

A young pilot near the front asked, "Pardon me, sir, but what good is a small fighter going to be against that."

"Well, the empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat," he responded, "or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans given to us by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station."

_That's just what I was hoping to hear_ Ivy thought with a grin.

"The approach will not be easy." He said, "you're required to maneuver straight down this and skim the surface to this point." The readouts showed precisely where to go and where to fire. "the target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the main reactor system. One precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction."

Ivy was listening intently. _Well that doesn't sound too horrible._

"The shaft is ray shielded so you'll have to use proton torpedoes." Dodona continued.

"That's impossible even for a computer," the pilot next to Luke said.

"It's not impossible." He argued, "I used to bulls eye womp rats in my T-16 back home and they're not much bigger than two meters."

Dodonna finished, "Then man your ships and may the force be with you."

They got up and left with the rest of the pilots and Ivy and Luke went to get their uniforms. Neither of theirs fit very well, especially Ivy's.

"I look like an orange." She said with some distain.

"Could be worse." Luke said, trying to cheer her up. Both of them spotted Han at the exact same time, "So, you got your reward and you're just leaving then?"

"That's right yea." Solo said rather coldly.

Ivy glared at him, "You know, Solo, you are the most selfish person I've ever met."

"Thanks," he retorted, "I've got some old debts I gotta pay up. Even if I didn't you think I'd be fool enough to stick around here do you?"

She was positively insulted.

"Why don't you two come with us," he offered, turning around, "You're both pretty good in a fight, we could use you."

"Come on," Luke said, "Why don't you take a look around, you know what's about to happen, what they're up against? They could use a good pilot like you and you're turning your back on them."

"Do you think I'd leave my best friends to get blown up?" Ivy said, "Luke's right, Solo, even if you don't care to admit it."

"What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it," he snapped. "Besides ain't my idea of courage. It's more like… suicide."

"What is your idea of courage," Ivy snapped, finally having enough, "hiding away in a corner while bastards like that take away everything you love?"

"Take care of yourself," Luke added, "I guess that's what you're best at." The both left the smuggler behind to load his precious credits.

"Hey, you two," he said. They both turned, "May the Force be with you."

Both of them turned and left.

"I wish he would listen," Luke said shaking his head.

"Me too."


	8. Battle

Both of them continued on to their ships, eventually having to split up. "Bye, Luke," she said. He started to turn to leave when she grabbed his wrist, "Wait!" she pulled off the glove on her right hand and took off the small silver ring on her ring finger, "here keep this for luck." She said placing it in the palm of his hand.

Luke's hand closed around the small ring, then he did the bravest thing he had ever done I his life. He bent over and pecked the girl softly on the cheek, "There! Now we're both lucky." Then with a wave of his hand he turned and left.

Ivy continued to stare after him, utterly stunned, hand still over the place he had kissed.

"Hey Lover girl," one of the pilots she had met earlier, Wedge said in her ear, "you gonna man your ship or not?"

"Oh!" she said, shaking herself out of the revelry, "right, I'll do that." Once aboard, she felt the thrum of the engines as the ship prepared for takeoff. Starling put her helmet on and buckled herself in, feeling the butterflies in her stomach for the first time. The cockpit closed down on her. There was no turning back now. She privately hoped Luke's kiss was really lucky because she didn't really feel like dying today, or losing her new friend. She felt the ship lift off the ground and began to panic. _Oh crap what have I gotten myself into! I've never flown one of these in my life!_

She tried to calm herself down. _Calm down, Starling, you'll be no good to anyone up there if you go into panic mode up there. All I have to do is breathe deeply and think._ She was suddenly reminded of the old wizard's words: _The force will be with you, always._

Her ship was rapidly leaving the planet behind with her in it. Her very first space battle was rapidly approaching. Soon they were outside of the atmosphere heading once again towards the ominous grey orb that was the Death Star.

"All wings report in." the leader of Red squadron's voice crackled over the helmet, followed by other voices reporting in, including Luke who was red five.

"Red Twelve standing by," Ivy said, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice.

"Lock S-foils in attack position." Ivy's engine screamed as the wings unfolded into the characteristic x that gave the ship make its name.

"We're passing through the magnetic field." The commander said, "hold tight, switch your deflectors on, double front."

_I guess this is it,_ she thought, _no turning back now._

She heard her fellow pilot, Wedge, "Look at the size of that thing."

"Cut the chatter Red 2! Accelerate to attack speed!"

Thankfully by this time, Ivy had gotten the hang of flying her new ship.

"This is it boys!" Starling was about to protest when she remembered she was the only female pilot in either Red or Gold squadron.

"Red leader this is Gold leader." The other squadron's leader said.

"I copy gold Leader."

"We're starting our attack run for the target shaft now."

"We're in position I'm gonna cut across the axis and try to draw their fire." Ivy followed the others in their maneuver, feeling the whoosh in her stomach as the ship turned smoothly. Yes, this was where she belonged.

The cannons fired on them, but the small ships easily evaded the blasts. She didn't hear the others around her; she was so engrossed in flying now.

"Red 12, this is a battle here, not a demonstration in acrobatics." Red leader's voice snapped her out of her daydream.

"Sorry, got a bit carried away." She said recognizing the slip for what it was. Ivy had to concentrate on the task at hand.

Several moments later, the imperials claimed their first victim, Porkins. The price of being a fighter pilot was really beginning to hit home for all of them.

A different voice came over the helmet com, "Squad leaders, we've picked up a new signal, enemy fighters coming your way."

"My scope's negative, I don't see anything," she heard Luke's distinct voice.

"Pick up your visual scanning."

"Here they come." Ivy heard an all too familiar roar not far above her, and once again saw the round ships with the flat sails.

The one that went after Ivy was particularly tenacious, so tenacious in fact that she could not get rid of it, "Guys, I can't get rid of him, somebody come and help."

"Hold still!" another voice said, "I can't hit him with you moving around like that."

Ivy Starling panicked completely, "I can't stop moving or he'll shoot me, go back and help someone else."

The TIE continued to chase the terrified girl around no matter what she tried. Then just when she had given up all hope of losing him, the ship exploded behind her, followed by a familiar war whoop.

"I told ya, Thorney, It's my job to shoot everything," he said, "now go help your friends blow this place to hell!"

"Much obliged, Solo," she said, "thanks for coming back and saving my ass." She flew back towards the trench only to find Luke and Red 3 being pursued by three TIES.

"Wait! Wait!" she heard Red 3 say, panic in his voice. Ivy knew the moment was now, she plunged in both guns blazing, clipping the wing of one and sending it into the others, causing the leader to lose control and go careening into space.

She grinned, "Hello, you two damsels seem to be in a fair amount of distress."

There was obvious relief in Red 3's voice, "Oh phew! I thought I was a goner there for a minute, thanks a lot, Red 12."

"Hey, Luke" she said.

"Yeah."

"Solo says to blow this place to Hell so we can get outta here." She said, "He saved my ass before he told me so."

"Good old Solo! I knew he'd come back!" She could practically hear him smiling. Only a short while later, all that was left of the death star was space dust.

"Whoo hoo! Yeah!" Ivy shouted beaming; "Now that's what I call fireworks!"

"Great shot kid that was one in a million!"

"Good Job Luke, I knew you could do it!"

The five of them came back to earth as heroes, each of them grateful to be alive.

**That's right, I just saved Biggs. I always get so mad when he gets killed, soo I decided that Ivy would go and save his butt. The next chapter (which will be the last) will deal with the awards ceremony and the formation of Rogue and Violet squadron (the squadron I made up). I also may delve a little more into the romance between Luke and Ivy, along with some others. I hope you have enjoyed this thus far and I'll have the next part up very soon.**


	9. Epilogue

The moment Ivy climbed down her ladder; she was surrounded by people offering their congratulations. She had to fight her way over to the other three pilots who had survived: Luke, Wedge, and a mustached man she recognized as the man she had just saved. Ivy ran up to Luke and hugged him tightly, "That was great shooting out there Luke! I don't think we'd be alive out there if it weren't for you!"

"What are you talking about, Ivy. If you hadn't been out there, Biggs and I woulda been vaped. You showed up just in time!"

She bowed her head, "Solo had to save me first. If it weren't for Solo, none of us would be here."

Luke suddenly gave an excited whoop, Ivy turned around to find Luke being hugged by the princess and felt her friend pull her into the hug, "We did it!"

"HEY!" Solo was quick to join them.

"I knew you would come back I just knew it."

Ivy laughed, "Good thing you did, or your fake little sister would be space dust now."

"I knew there was more to you than money!"

Luke turned to the older man with the mustache, "Biggs, these are my new friends."

"I'm pleased to meet you," he said with a smile.

"This is Leia, Han, Chewie, and Ivy," he said, "Ivy was red twelve."

Biggs walked up to her and shook her hand, "I suppose I owe you my life, Ivy. You came not a moment too soon!"

"No problem, but the real person you should thank is Han," Ivy said, "He's the only reason I was there in time in the first place."

"Aww Thorney, you flatter me," he smirked, "You three owe me one though."

Ivy laughed, "Don't worry; I'm sure we'll repay you."

Ivy found that she rather liked the new dress she had been given for the ceremony. She walked into the room where Han and Luke where. All three of them where to receive metals. Chewie, Biggs, and Wedge had all refused, "Well boys, how do I look?"

"Woa!" was all Luke could get out, "you look-you look good."

"Yeah, Thorney," Solo grinned, "Who woulda guessed my fake little sis would clean up so nicely."

"Not bad yourselves, gentlemen." She said, "You ready to get this over with?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." The doors opened and the music began as the four of them walked past the crowds of rebels who they had saved. It was really funny, Ivy reflected, that a year ago she had just been a spoiled rich kid from New York City who had never even heard of the rebel alliance or the empire.

Ivy examined the metal now around her neck. She hadn't gotten one of these since her last fencing championship. Although she had to admit, helping to save the galaxy from danger was far more rewarding.

"Hey, Lifesaver," Biggs said, "General Dodonna wants to see you and Luke for something.

"Oh thanks, Biggs," she said, "I heard you had a run in with my cousin Danyella the other day."

"Run in isn't the right word," he said, "Is she always that nervous?"

"No, I think she likes you." She said, "That's the only reason she would have for acting so nervous. Listen, Biggs, I'll see you later."

"So, what do you think they want to see us for?" Luke mused.

"Beats me, but I bet it's important." Ivy said.

Luke chuckled, "I hope they're not gonna try to give us more metals."

Ivy snickered, "I hope not either I have enough shineys to deal with as is."

He laughed, then he grew suddenly serious, "Um, Ivy." He said nervously, "I just wanted to tell you that-that your dress looks really pretty on you."

"Aww thanks, Luke." She pecked him on the cheek, "so we're both lucky."

The doors opened and they were beckoned to sit down.

"What did you want to discuss, general?" Ivy asked.

"As you both know," he said, "We are short on pilots. I want you both to be involved in a project to encourage more pilots to join the alliance."

"Just tell us what to do, sir," Luke said.

"This project would include the formation of two separate squadrons, one of which to encourage female pilots to join."

"And you want us to be commanders of these two squadrons?" Ivy asked.

"Yes, we do." He said, "Would you both be willing?"

Both Ivy and Luke looked at each other, "General, you can count us in!"

THE END

**I hope you have enjoyed my story. I should be putting up the first part of Empire up with Ivy in it any day. I'll have to work on a few details, but it'll delve a lot more into Ivy and Luke's relationship. I will also add more to that of Danyella and Biggs's relationship, as well as introducing Ivy's friends in greater detail.**


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